U.S. patent application Ser. No. 3,663,445 relates to liquid, storable concentrates consisting of 6 to 45% by weight of a nonionic surfactant,, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, 4 to 33% by weight of an ethanolamine salt of a fatty acid, 2 to 90% by weight of an ethanolamine and 0 to 50% by weight water and to cleaning and degreasing preparations, more particularly for metallic surfaces, which are obtained from the concentrates by dilution with water.
AT-PS 308 936 relates to liquid, storable concentrates consisting of at least 5% by weight of a nonionic surfactant, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, at least 3% by weight of a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms in the molecule, at least 4.5% by weight of one or more alkanolamines and typical additives, such as complexing agents, and water and to cleaning and degreasing preparations obtainable from the concentrates by dilution with water.
GB-PS 1,321,513 relates to a process for cleaning metal surfaces using two cleaning baths applied one after the other, namely a precleaning bath and a degreasing bath. The precleaning bath consists of at least 5% by weight of a nonionic surfactant containing 3 to 5 mol ethylene oxide, at least 3% by weight of a fatty acid and/or an alkyl polyethylene oxide carboxylic acid, at least 1. 5% by weight of an alkanolamine and/or oxazine and, for the rest, of water. The degreasing bath consists of an inorganic or organic alkaline substance, for example potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, potassium orthophosphate, potassium pyrophosphate, potassium borate, alkanolamine, preferably mono-, di- or triethanolamine, morpholine, and a complexing agent, a low-foaming surfactant, for example a condensation product of fatty acids with 3 to 5 mol ethylene oxide, and other additives and, for the rest, of water.
AT-PS 299 421 relates to a water-based liquid detergent for dishwashing machines containing 2 to 6% by weight of anonionic surfactant, 15 to 25% by weight of an organic sequestrant, 7 to 15% by weight of a hydrotropic substance, 3 to 15% by weight of an ethanolamine and 0.1 to 0.6% of a corrosion inhibitor.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. DE. 25 05 252 relates to a process for the industrial cleaning and degreasing of articles, more particularly of metals, by treatment of the articles with a solventless aqueous solution containing an organic sequestrant and a hydrotropic substance, characterized in that the aqueous solution used contains 0.1 to 204 by weight of an organic hydrotropic electrolyte in the form of benzenesulfonates, lower alkylbenzenesulfonates, di-(lower alkyl)-benzenesulfonates or mixtures thereof and 0.1 to 254 by weight of an organic sequestrant in the form of aminopolycarboxylic acids or aminopolyphosphonic acids or salts or mixtures thereof, the ratio by weight of the electrolyte to the sequestrant being 2:1 to 1:3 and the pH value of the solution being in the range from 9 to 13.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 4,321,166 relates to liquid cleaning preparations containing 20 to 704 by weight of a surfactant, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, 0.85 to 2% by weight of a corrosion inhibitor system consisting essentially of a mixture of an oligomeric olefinic fatty acid and an aromatic triazole and 1 to 75% by weight water.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. DE. 35 30 623 relates to demulsifying cleaning preparations with a surface moisturizing effect which contain builders/complexing agents in a quantity of 0.5 to 10% by weight, one or more alkanolamine(s) in a quantity of 20 to 604 by weight, one or more nonionic surfactant(s) in a quantity of 1 to 15% by weight and, for the rest, water. These cleaning preparations and corresponding cleaning compositions are suitable for the cleaning and degreasing of painted and unpainted vehicle surfaces, engines, floors and walls of workshops, etc., even at room temperature, with demulsification of the oily or greasy soil removed.
However, the demulsifying effect of these known cleaning preparations does not satisfy present-day requirements. In other words, their demulsification of the oil-containing soil removed and the resulting, subsequent separation of oil are not sufficient to reduce the residual oil contents in the wastewater to the low levels required today.
By contrast, the problem addressed by the present invention was to provide demulsifying cleaning preparations for the cleaning of hard surfaces soiled with oil which would have a better demulsifying effect and also a better cleaning effect than known cleaning preparations. In addition, the demulsifying effect of the cleaning preparations would result in improved oil removal and hence in lower residual oil contents in the wastewater.